Earlier this year, when the San Antonio Spurs played the Denver Nuggets, Gregg Popovich was asked about his assistants disagreeing with him, and if he liked that environment of disagreement. At first, Pop played coy, saying, “Yeah, I never get to do what I want.” He then followed up with a more serious reply, stating that you don’t get far by surrounding yourself with just, as he said, “yes men.”
This is apparently a lesson Steve Kerr took to heart when he learned under Popovich (or perhaps it was just something he observed during his time with the Spurs), because it was that very sort of environment – one where everyone’s voice is heard and not drowned out by the head coach – that produced Kerr’s series-changing decision to start Andre Iguodala and bench starting center Andrew Bogut. As Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports reports, it was the Warriors’ 28-year-old manager of advanced scouting and special assistant to the head coach Nick U’Ren who suggested the dramatic shift:
But after U’Ren suggested the drastic lineup change for the Warriors – starting Andre Iguodala in place of center Andrew Bogut – that helped them beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-82 and even the NBA Finals at two games apiece Thursday night, Kerr felt it was only right to give U’Ren a shout-out.
“He’s behind the bench, he’s 28 years old, he’s a kid,” Kerr said. “We have a staff that is very cooperative. Whoever has the idea, it doesn’t matter. And he brought me the idea.”
No one person has all the answers, and it’s a fool who claims they do. The true mark of wisdom is admitting you don’t know, then seeking out the answers from all sources. If the answer comes from an unexpected place, or someone years behind in experience, that shouldn’t discredit it, if it’s indeed correct. Kerr could have easily scoffed at a suggestion from someone as inexperienced as his assistant, but he instead chose to keep an open mind.
In his Coach of the Year acceptance speech, Mike Budenholzer thanked Pop for letting his assistants coach. When Melvin Hunt was named the interim head coach of the Denver Nuggets and asked about his lack of coaching experience, Hunt replied that the best thing George Karl did was let his assistants – Hunt included – coach. Kerr operates the same way. While he ultimately makes the decisions, he does so after hearing feedback, both positive and negative, from all sides. Assistant coach Luke Walton said as much to Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated:
“It was his decision,” Walton said. “It’s always his decision. But this is why he’s the greatest boss in the world. We can all make suggestions, even a video guy, and he’ll seriously consider them.”
It’s a bold move, listening to the suggestion of someone who isn’t even technically a coach. But for a team like the Warriors, it’s not at all out of the ordinary. When you keep an open mind and actively encourage ideas from anyone who has them, good things happen. It’s the reason the Spurs have been so successful for so long, it’s the reason the Warriors were so successful in their first year under Kerr, and it’s the reason they’re now tied with the Cavaliers heading back to their home court for Game 5.
